Creative Solutions, Or: I Bet That's Why That Guy Had $12 Million In The First Place

(NOTE: Based on time elapsed since the posting of this entry, the BS-o-meter calculates this is 7.236% likely to be something that Ferrett now regrets.)

From the obituary of Robert Taylor:
“Robert Taylor knew he had a winning idea for a product the moment he thought of it. Looking at the mess a bar of soap had left on his bathroom sink, he spotted a gap in the market for a bottled liquid soap dispensed by a pump. Realizing bigger companies would quickly copy his idea, he borrowed $12 million – every penny his business was worth – and ordered 100 million little plastic pumps from US manufacturers, creating a back order so huge that no rival could buy pumps for at least a year.”
Props to you, Robert Taylor.